As if you haven’t heard enough about Monday’s solar eclipse, we ask that you think ahead to the next one for just a moment. Another total solar eclipse is slated for April 8, 2024. So you’ve got a decision to make over those glasses you bought. You could hang on to them for almost seven years so you’ll be able to indulge in sun-staring without that last-minute scramble to procure eye protection, or you can give them up for use in the nearer future.
In 2019, Asia and South America will be treated to solar eclipses, and many children there lack the means to acquire the glasses, meaning they’ll either miss out on the phenomenon or possibly injure themselves trying to witness it without protection, a la our president. Astronomers Without Borders wants to collect any unwanted eclipse glasses for distribution to kids around the globe so they too can partake in the majesty of such an event.
Lehigh University recently sent out a link to its effort to collect glasses on behalf of the group for distribution to kids around the world:
“If you’re done looking up at the sun, don’t throw out your Solar Eclipse Glasses! Astronomers Without Borders is collecting them for schools in Asia and South America, where there will be solar eclipses in 2019. Please bring or mail your glasses to:
Lehigh Physics Department c/o Prof Joshua Pepper
16 Memorial Drive East
Bethlehem, PA, 18015.”
Astronomers Without Borders made their plea on social media, as well.
The group also raises money to procure new glasses, but the repurposing of “used” ones is cheaper and more sustainable. Given that even eclipse enthusiasts are suffering from fatigue from the torrent of coverage surrounding the event, Astronomers Without Borders is working hard to ensure that news of the effort and donation opportunity circulates before the glasses get stowed away or, more likely, thrown away.
While Astronomers Without Borders hasn’t yet shared the procedure for how one would directly donate the glasses, that news will be forthcoming, according to their posts. Regardless, it sounds like either avenue (Lehigh or AWB) one chooses will lead to the same benefit for kids the world over.
Due to the rising price of gas and other issues, more people are looking for various hacks to make the most out of their purchases and cut down costs. As a result, more people are brewing coffee at home rather than grabbing a latte to-go from Starbucks. Now, making coffee at home doesn’t just save money on caffeine fixes; it can also save money on dishwashing soap, facial scrubs, pest control, and many other household needs.
Coffee grounds are the secret cleaning supply you brew each morning. It sounds odd, but it’s true, effective, and reduces expenses. Whether you use a French press or a can of Folgers, coffee grounds could do the job that several other cleaning or home products can.
Here are five reasons you keep your coffee grounds around:
1. They help scrub cookware (and yourself) better
You’ve likely seen ads for dish soap that specialize in cutting through grease or burned on stains on pots and pans. It turns out dried coffee grounds can be just as, if not more, effective when paired with cheap dish soap.
After used coffee grounds are dried up (if you’re impatient, you can use your oven to bake them dry), they become incredibly fine and coarse. Paired up with basic dish soap, the coarse grounds gently scrape off grease, grime, and tough-to-scrub burn stains. This can apply to nearly any metal or porcelain cookware. Since coffee grounds are so refined, they can do heavy-duty cleaning without damage. If a food stain is incredibly stubborn, adding salt to your coffee grounds with the dish soap can act as a safer sandpaper for those stains.
While great for dishes, coffee grounds can do the same thing with stains and gunk clinging to grills, sinks, tubs, kitchen floors, and other surfaces.
Coffee grounds aren’t just safe for scrubbing dishes; they’re also safe for scrubbing you. If you’ve been handling sticky or greasy items while cleaning the kitchen, coffee grounds can reduce the amount of hand soap needed to wash it off.
Leftover coffee grounds can also be DIY’d into an effective exfoliant for your face. In fact, there could be health benefits, too. A 2013 study found that caffeic acid in coffee facial scrubs may increase collagen production to reduce wrinkles and signs of aging. Like any exfoliant, it sloughs off extra oils and dead skin cells. The difference is in the cost: used coffee grounds do the trick just as well (if not better) than expensive store-bought scrubs.
While many people can enjoy the scent of coffee, the grounds can eliminate other scents in your home. This doesn’t mean that you’re covering up bad smells with coffee smells. Far from it. Coffee contains nitrogen which neutralizes odors much more effectively than sprays and air fresheners.
The good thing is that coffee grounds can help improve or remove smells in almost any part of the home. Place a small bowl of coffee grounds in the refrigerator and freezer to remove food smells. Put a small cup of grounds in your closet to reduce odor from the laundry hamper. Pour some dry grounds in some old socks and put them in your shoes to deodorize them overnight.
Here’s the other benefit: While humans tend to like the scent of coffee, pests don’t.
3. Most bugs hate coffee
No one wants a bug infestation of any kind in their home, and one of the best nontoxic ways of keeping them out is with coffee. No sprays, no traps, and no need for an additional purchase. Just coffee grounds.
The scent of coffee is intense to many insects’ heightened sense of smell, so they tend to shy away from its source. Affected insects include ants, wasps, bees, slugs, and fleas among others.
In moderation, used coffee grounds can help deter outdoor pests in your garden while also acting as fertilizer for some plants. If you enjoy the outdoors, burning dry coffee grounds like incense can also keep mosquitoes away.
4. They can buff out scratched wooden furniture
Before you spend money on wood filler, scratch repair kits, or the like to fix surface scratches on dark wooden furniture, you may want to try coffee grounds instead. Spread a paste made from dried grounds and water onto the scratches. Let it “soak” for a few minutes and then wipe the coffee ground paste away. It may take a few tries, but many light scratches look better. Some outright disappear after absorbing the coffee and its color into the surface of the wood.
Coffee grounds are a waste product for sure, but they’re a waste product that could save money in the long term—and hat shouldn’t go to waste!
Feeding a family has become increasingly expensive, leaving many parents in dire need of creative ways to stretch their grocery budget. One Brooklyn chef stumbled upon an entertaining solution that’s helping families turn cheap meals into something delicious.
Known to his online followers as “Chef Moe,” Maurice Levene, through his popular chat_n_chops TikTok series, proves how just $5 worth of groceries can be used to craft flavorful and satisfying family dinners. The captivating platform has viewers doing more than eating well on a tight budget. He’s boosting confidence in the kitchen and changing what people believe affordable meals can look like.
Episode 23 of feeding our family with five dollars. Let’s see what we can get let’s learn the science behind putting it together and that share techniques. Because sharing recipes is sharing love. #chefmoe#cookin101#budget#learntocook#5dollars
A former professional chef based in Brooklyn, Chef Moe has built a large audience through positive energy and budget-friendly meals. Using inexpensive ingredients from discount stores and grocery chains, he walks viewers through recipes step by step. Breaking down exactly how much each ingredient costs, he proves that affordable meals don’t have to be boring or uninspired.
The success of the videos is not only a testament to his food knowledge and great personality, but also to the larger need facing many Americans. Food prices are way higher than they were only a couple of years ago, forcing families to shop and cook on a much tighter budget.
In a story for the New York Post, Chef Moe recalled a widowed mother of three struggling to feed her family. “I got so sad thinking that she couldn’t even afford to buy seasonings,” he explained. “I figured if I could help people in some small way — teach them a few simple tricks or techniques — they’d be able to get by.”
Come learn to cook with me. Feeding our family with five dollars. What kind of meal can we make? Everybody needs a little help sometime. Come learn the science, as well as as the how to while cooking. #chefmoe#foodie#homecooking#budgetmeals#budget
Chef Moe stands out from similar budgeting experts because of his now seasoned approach. Rather than focusing on ways for people to sacrifice and cut out, he emphasizes how to be clever with limited resources. Using his professional culinary background, he turns bare-bones choices into intentionally satisfying meals.
Comments from his growing community reveal people grateful for the means to save money and the knowledge gained with practical cooking techniques. His positive energy leaves viewers feeling empowered, earning him 771 thousand followers and over 7 million likes.
“… I gotta say seeing you do this warms my heart. And now I know where to turn if God forbid I need to stretch a buck. keep doing good work”
“Not only are you teaching me how to make meals with $5, you’re teaching me the culinary techniques to help me with everything I cook.”
“This meal is not only ‘fun’ but you fed a family for $5, gave a cooking lesson and made everyone feel seen… thank you.”
“This is awesome, especially with so many folks struggling.”
“The price point is cool but the CULINARY TECHNIQUE in a basic way is why I’m really watching lol steam fry deglaze”
“One of the most useful series on here!”
“I love your videos!!! your positivity and good aura make me forget…”
“I’m genuinely shocked about what you were able to make with just $5 for your entire family. That is so awesome!”
Let’s feed our family with five dollars episode 22. Let’s see what we can create that is filling that can go a long way and most importantly that is flavorful extracting the flavors from the food without using seasonings only using technique. Come learn with me I will show you. #chefmoe#cooking101#budget#foodie#5dollars
Chef Moe continues to share upbeat videos packed with affordable meal ideas. As people search for ways to balance rising costs with everyday needs, he offers practical, realistic solutions. While social media has its problems, it has also become an unexpected resource where people seeking guidance can connect with creators offering useful answers.
Chef Moe is helping people feel capable in the kitchen. Tight finances don’t have to mean sacrificing good food. In fact, a little creativity makes for surprisingly delicious dishes more enjoyable than you might expect. Even a seasoned chef knows that some of the best kitchen skills start by making the most of what they have.
What a roommate can save you in 100 US cities: 2026 study
New college grads, transplants from other cities, and others might find myriad advantages in including a roommate in their housing plan — one of those being cost savings. Particularly in high cost-of-living areas, an extra cushion in the budget could make a big difference in discretionary spending, paying off debt, or investing for the future. Across large U.S. cities, splitting a two-bedroom apartment with a roommate versus living alone in a one-bedroom apartment could save the average renter about $541 per month, or nearly $6,500 per year. In many cities, the average savings climb much higher.
With this in mind, SmartAsset ranked 100 of the largest U.S. cities based on the percentage of monthly rent saved by sharing an apartment with a roommate.
Key Findings
Adding a roommate gets you the best value in Cleveland, Ohio. Splitting a two-bedroom with another person saves you nearly 48% compared to renting a one-bedroom alone. The average cost of one-bedroom rent in Cleveland currently sits at $1,150, nearly identical to the average two-bedroom rent of $1,200.
The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is only $900 in this city. Shreveport, Louisiana, has the lowest two-bedroom rent out of 100 large cities. With an average one-bedroom price of $790, it ranks 10th overall with a savings of 43% with a roommate, or $340 rent savings per person per month.
In NYC, a roommate saves you $1,730 per month. The average one-bedroom rent in New York City is $4,380, while two roommates could split the average $5,300 two-bedroom rent for $2,650 each. Neighboring Jersey City, New Jersey has the second-highest raw monthly dollars saved with a roommate at $1,490 — or 46.7% savings over living alone.
A roommate saves you the least in the cities. Relative to local housing costs, sharing your space is least cost effective in Scottsdale, Arizona, where splitting a two-bedroom nets you a 26.0% discount, or a $440 monthly discount. Seattle (28.2% savings; $550 per month) and El Paso, Texas (29.4% savings; $250 per month), also are most budget-friendly to singletons.
Top 10 Cities With the Most Savings With a Roommate
Cities are ranked based on the percent saved in rent between splitting the average two-bedroom apartment with a roommate and living in a one-bedroom apartment alone.
Cleveland, OH
Percent savings with a roommate: 47.83%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $550
One-bedroom rent: $1,150
Two-bedroom rent: $1,200
Baton Rouge, LA
Percent savings with a roommate: 46.88%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $450
One-bedroom rent: $960
Two-bedroom rent: $1,020
Jersey City, NJ
Percent savings with a roommate: 46.71%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $1,490
One-bedroom rent: $3,190
Two-bedroom rent: $3,400
Memphis, TN
Percent savings with a roommate: 46.24%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $430
One-bedroom rent: $930
Two-bedroom rent: $1,000
Boise, ID
Percent savings with a roommate: 45.49%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $605
One-bedroom rent: $1,330
Two-bedroom rent: $1,450
Augusta, GA
Percent savings with a roommate: 45.00%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $450
One-bedroom rent: $1,000
Two-bedroom rent: $1,100
New Haven, CT
Percent savings with a roommate: 44.89%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $835
One-bedroom rent: $1,860
Two-bedroom rent: $2,050
Chattanooga, TN
Percent savings with a roommate: 44.44%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $520
One-bedroom rent: $1,170
Two-bedroom rent: $1,300
Virginia Beach, VA
Percent savings with a roommate: 43.94%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $725
One-bedroom rent: $1,650
Two-bedroom rent: $1,850
Shreveport, LA
Percent savings with a roommate: 43.04%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $340
One-bedroom rent: $790
Two-bedroom rent: $900
Top 10 Cities Where It’s Most Cost Effective to Live Alone
Cities are ranked based on the percent saved in rent between splitting the average two-bedroom apartment with a roommate and living in a one-bedroom apartment alone.
Scottsdale, AZ
Percent savings with a roommate: 26.04%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $440
One-bedroom rent: $1,690
Two-bedroom rent: $2,500
Seattle, WA
Percent savings with a roommate: 28.21%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $550
One-bedroom rent: $1,950
Two-bedroom rent: $2,800
El Paso, TX
Percent savings with a roommate: 29.41%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $250
One-bedroom rent: $850
Two-bedroom rent: $1,200
Albuquerque, NM
Percent savings with a roommate: 29.47%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $280
One-bedroom rent: $950
Two-bedroom rent: $1,340
Denver, CO
Percent savings with a roommate: 29.69%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $475
One-bedroom rent: $1,600
Two-bedroom rent: $2,250
St Louis, MO
Percent savings with a roommate: 30.11%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $280
One-bedroom rent: $930
Two-bedroom rent: $1,300
Dallas, TX
Percent savings with a roommate: 30.28%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $430
One-bedroom rent: $1,420
Two-bedroom rent: $1,980
San Francisco, CA
Percent savings with a roommate: 30.47%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $1,155
One-bedroom rent: $3,790
Two-bedroom rent: $5,270
Fort Lauderdale, FL
Percent savings with a roommate: 30.85%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $580
One-bedroom rent: $1,880
Two-bedroom rent: $2,600
St Petersburg, FL
Percent savings with a roommate: 31.33%
Monthly rent savings with a roommate: $470
One-bedroom rent: $1,500
Two-bedroom rent: $2,060
Data and Methodology
This study examined data from 100 U.S. cities, comparing the average rents for one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments between March 2025 and March 2026 based on data from Zumper. Specifically, the cost of a one-bedroom was compared with half the cost of a two-bedroom for each city, assuming each roommate pays equal rent.
